Welcome & Introduction
Welcome and thank you for being here today.
Today is a day of celebration for our institution, to honor our history and traditions while
glimpsing at the future with confidence and hope.
It is a day of reflection about the great leaders and the traditions that have brought us to
this point. Today we begin a new chapter and I have the singular privilege of becoming
part of our history while forging a path to our future. I acknowledge and accept the
presidency of this college with deep gratitude. You’ve entrusted me with this leadership
role and I embrace it with eagerness.
Thank you
No one arrives at a moment like this without the help and support of a great many
people. Please indulge me while I take some time to acknowledge and thank them.
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To the Inauguration Committee led by Michelle Riggs for your months of work in
making this a memorable event for me and for the campus
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To the Finkelstein Family for your generous donation of the land on which we sit
and for your continuing support of our students
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To Our Partners for believing in us and for providing the time, talents, and
treasures that are crucial to our students’ success
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To Our Alumni for being part of the Crafton family and for the delegates here
today who represent our 40 year history
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To Our Former presidents for your stewardship of the institution
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To Our Board of Trustees, past and present, for your commitment to the District
and to the public we serve
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To My Crafton Colleagues – the Faculty, Classified, and Managers who are the
strength of this institution
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To Kelly Bingham and Cheryl Cox for your unwavering support, your willingness
to put up with me, and your friendship
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To My Senior Management Team for your wise counsel, passion, energy,
dedication, authenticity, and humor
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To My Friends and Colleagues – from so many parts of my life – for your
encouragement and guidance
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To Charlie and Kaylee for the reflections that I will remember for years to come
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To Yvonne for being a role model and an amazing sister
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To Gary, Eric, and Carl for being here as family today
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To Caroline and William for your great love of a working mom
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And most of all, to my husband, Patrick, for your understanding, leadership, and
love – all of which have helped me grow into the woman I am today
Please accept my heartfelt and deepest gratitude to all of you.
My Path to Educator
The path that led me to becoming an educational leader has been filled with twists and
turns. I didn’t start out with the career goal of becoming a community college president.
Now as I look back, I can see when the seeds were planted. One of my clearest
childhood memories is of sitting on my grandparents’ porch in El Paso, and my
granddad telling me that no one could take your education away. My parents believed
in education and always expected us to go to college, with full confidence that we would
have meaningful careers. These positive messages about education were reinforced by
my own natural love of learning.
As with many young adults, I had no clue what I really wanted to do and picked a major
because it sounded good. At least three majors later at multiple colleges, I settled on
psychology because I wasn’t failing those classes and the topics were interesting.
When I discovered that a bachelor’s degree in psychology qualified me for a job in a
pizza place, I floundered for a while and later made the decision to pursue a master’s
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degree in industrial/organizational psychology. This was a choice I have never
regretted.
As a result of an internship during my master’s program, my career path shifted towards
organizational training and development, but these jobs were never completely
gratifying. It wasn’t until I accepted an adjunct position at Cal Poly Pomona that I fell in
love with teaching. Once I entered the classroom and saw the light bulb go on with
students, I was hooked. This began my now 20-year career as an educator.
After another brief detour into private industry, I had the opportunity to work on an
economic development grant at Mt. San Antonio College and leapt at the chance. My
path had finally led to the community colleges and I have never looked back.
Nearly 8 years later, I left the grandeur of Mt. SAC for a small college in Yucaipa,
California as the Vice President of Instruction. You might be familiar with it. For the
second time in my career I fell in love – this time with the beautiful setting and
remarkable people at Crafton Hills College. For the past 6 years, Crafton has been an
integral part of me. My work here has partially fulfilled my personal mission of growing
people and organizations while my affections for this campus have compelled me to
become a champion and steward. I have grown as an educational leader and my
allegiance to the field of education is resolute.
Role of Education
You see, I believe education is one of very few interventions that can truly transform
lives. Education provides the tools for achieving our biggest dreams and empowers us
to be better people. Education contributes to social justice, but even more importantly,
it contributes to the achievement of one’s full potential. Education unites opportunity
with excellence.
The very nature of our work inspires hope and invites criticism. Over the past ten years
community colleges have experienced increased scrutiny and accountability. Our
detractors have had a field day pointing at our success rates while forgetting our
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mission of access. Within the community college system we have responded, as we
always do, by examining ourselves to determine what we can do better. The increased
visibility has forced us to be very clear about who we are and what we do. We
understand that true equity only comes when every student has the opportunity to
succeed and we’ve put solutions in place to address the gaps.
I am very proud to be part of the community college system and part of Crafton Hills.
Our resiliency and fortitude as a campus community is demonstrated by working magic
every day with limited resources. I’m not afraid of accountability measures because I
am confident about our determination to ensure access and success for our students.
Our Commitment to Students
To our students in the audience today, I want you to know that you are indisputably at
the center of our work. I exhort you to continue your education and reach your goals.
You see, there is no app on your phone for answering the deep questions of life or for
succeeding in a career path. We want you to gain new perspectives and a deeper
understanding of the world and of yourself. We want you to be culturally competent and
clear communicators. We want you to be critical thinkers and problem solvers by
reasoning through problems rather than around them. Most importantly, we want to
ignite in you a deep desire to learn for the rest of your life, to continue with inquiry and
discovery as you create your own path. We hope that by the time you leave Crafton,
you will be ready and willing to embark on your own unique journey. Along the way,
remember the wise words of Steve Jobs: don’t waste your time living someone else’s
life.
CHC’s Future
For the educators in this audience and our partners, the challenge I’ve given students
demands our very best work. This is a time for reinventing education – not the essence
of what we do but how we do it, how we teach, how we organize ourselves, and how we
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support student success. Our job is to create the conditions under which students will
be inspired to succeed. We must enlighten and empower them to reach their goals.
At Crafton, we will be physically transformed over the next five years with new buildings.
My hope and my aim is that our physical transformation will be symbolic of our
continuing transformation as educators. As a college, we must also push to reach new
heights. We must enhance our connections with students because we know the power
of engagement. We must direct our efforts to close the achievement gap between
students who know how to navigate our complex system and those who don’t. We must
continue our spirited dialogue that results in better solutions. We must be role models
of professional and respectful demeanor. Indeed, we must be learners ourselves and
stretch beyond what we thought we ever could be.
Closing
As president, I am committed to leading Crafton with vision, integrity, and courage. I
vow to protect and polish this jewel, the emerald on the hill. As a campus, we have our
momentum and our ambitions. Let us now move forward together with determination
and turn dreams into reality.
Thank you all for being here today to share this moment with me.
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